1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to animal traps and cages configured to humanely capture animals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, animal traps are used to capture animals that are either wild and/or are a nuisance. For example, animal traps are used to capture squirrels, mice, and other types of animals that may be a nuisance. Generally, trap housings are sized to accommodate the size of the animal to be trapped. In the case of traps designed for chipmunks, mice and other small animals, the trap housings are usually oversized in order to permit baiting of the trap because a trap housing sized for a chipmunk would be too small to accommodate an adult hand. Animal traps used to capture nuisance animals are generally configured to allow the animal to be captured without harm and then be relocated. These types of traps are generally referred to as humane animal traps.
Conventional humane animal traps are well-known and generally include two types of trap, the non-repeating trap and the repeating trap. To trap animals In the non-repeating trap, homeowners and trappers generally often rely on animal traps that are operated by raising a trap door, in slides, to an open position, setting the door in the open position by means of the trigger mechanism and baiting the trap on triggering mechanism, such as a bait pan. When an animal is lured into the trap by the bait and steps on the bait pan, the trigger mechanism is sprung allowing the door to drop closed under gravity and trap the animal. Unfortunately, many triggering mechanisms are complicated and therefore difficult and expensive to manufacture. Many non-repeating traps are difficult to set and unreliable in operation. Often, it is desirable to capture more than one animal at time. Unfortunately, non-repeating traps require resetting once the trap has been sprung.
With regard to conventional repeating traps, the commercial embodiments of such traps currently available comprise a housing defining an enlarged enclosure with one, or perhaps two, inclined plane trap assemblies communicating the interior of the enclosure with the exterior of the housing via an elongated passageway. An inclined plane tilting floor member is positioned in the passageway of each trap assembly and is adapted to lift a door to block an entrance opening when an animal, such as a rodent, passes beyond a pivot point. The blocked entrance limits the animal's ability to escape from the enclosure. When the animal exits the passageway into the enclosure, the door falls by gravity on the entrance end of the tilting floor to reset the trap and the raised end of the tilting floor limits the ability of captured animal to return to the passageway.
Once trapped, captured animals will usually attempt to escape in any way possible. For example, captured squirrels and other rodents in conventional repeating traps will try to grasp the inner end of the tilting floor to regain access to the passageway. In some instances, animals on the tilting floor have been able to grasp the side or top edges of the door with their claws or teeth to pull the door down against their own weight, and thereby escape from the trap. The trapping industry has attempted to limit access to the tilting floor and the door of conventional repeating traps by incorporation of various flanges or lips on the trap assembly walls or roof, but such efforts have had limited success. One reason for the limited success is that when traps are sized to hold only a few animals at a time the animals are constrained to remain in the area of the door through which they have just entered. Moreover, the animal perceives the door as being between it and a path to escape. Natural instinct compels the animal to attack the door in an attempt to move towards the outside. Eventually, with conventional trap designs the animal finds a combination of acts that opens the door, thus permitting escape.
Another problem associated with conventional repeating animal traps is the tendency of a captured animal to crawl under, or nest in, the space between the bottom wall of the trap housing and the undersurface of the raised end of the tilting floor when the trap assembly has been reset. The presence of an animal in this location prevents another animal attempting to enter the trap assembly from tilting the floor and, thereby, being captured. Further, a dead animal in this space effectively destroys the use of the repeating animal trap without extensive maintenance.
Yet another problem associated with conventional repeating animal traps is that many are sized to hold only a few animals. Once full, other animals are no longer tempted to enter or even capable of entering. An effective repeating animal trap may be capable of capturing many animals, even dozens of animals, without resetting or other human intervention. Thus, many potential animals being targeted for trapping remain uncaptured.
Therefore, there is a need for an animal trap that humanely captures one or more animals without resetting while effectively preventing the animals from escaping once trapped and has a capacity to hold many animals at a time.